Carter Reed

and I grabbed onto the counter. I couldn’t hold on. My hands were shaking too much.
    “Ma’am?”
    I heard the guard’s voice in the distance. Things were going black. He sounded far away. I thought he had been in the next room? Maybe he moved, and then the darkness covered all of me. Something crashed far away, and I heard his radio buzz.
    “She’s down…call the boss…”

“Emma.”
    A hand touched my arm briefly. I jerked awake and was disoriented. A large black silhouette stood above me and I started screaming.
    “Stop!” He bent further down. “It’s me, Mike.”
    I gasped on my last scream when he turned on the light, but my chest was still heaving from the panic. My heart was pounding. I rolled over to dry heave until I started to calm down. I felt something cold against my arm.
    “It’s Carter. He wants to talk to you.”
    “What?”
    The cold thing pressed against me again. “It’s Carter. He’s on the phone.”
    Phone. Carter. My hand streaked out and I grabbed the small cellphone. When I rolled over, I pressed it to my ear and asked, “Carter?”
    “Hey.”
    Everything in me sagged in relief. His voice soothed me. In the distance, I was barely aware of a door clicking shut. I murmured back, “Hey.”
    He chuckled. His smooth baritone came over the phone and sidled over me, like another caress from him. I closed my eyes and snuggled deeper into bed. I didn’t care how I got there, what had happened, all I needed was Carter. That was all I knew.
    “They said you fainted. Are you okay?”
    I grimaced as I remembered. “Yeah. I did.”
    “Why?”
    “Because you weren’t here. Because I think something happened to Mallory and Ben. Amanda told me they’re gone and I think you know something happened to them. Because I’m tired of feeling trapped. Because I got booted off a great project at work and I don’t know why. Because I miss Amanda. I miss all of them, even Ben.” I felt stupid saying all of that and I felt even more stupid because it was coming out of me in a rush. I needed him. My hand shook as it held the phone to my ear. “Because I miss you and because I’m scared.”
    There was silence on the other end.
    Another beat passed.
    “I’m coming back.”
    Everything in me exploded, but I tried to argue with him. “No, I didn’t mean for you to do that—”
    “I’m coming home anyway.” He sounded tired. “I have some business in New York, but I’ll head to the jet right after.” He paused. “I miss you too.”
    Warmth burst inside of me, but I tried to tone it down. I was becoming one of those gushy types. I hated those types, but I whispered back, “I’m glad you’re coming back.”
    “You have to promise me something first.”
    “What?”
    “Stop taking your anger out on the guys and making sudden changes.”
    Guilt sunk low in my gut.
    “You can go wherever you want, just tell the guys first. They’re good at their jobs, but sometimes they can’t adapt fast enough. Please, Emma.”
    “I will.”
    “Good. How was your week?”
    “It sucked.”
    He chuckled again. “I’m guessing it’s not just because of last week?”
    “What?”
    “Friday night, Emma.”
    “Oh!” My eyes widened. I’d forgotten about the attack. How could I have forgotten? “That slipped my mind. I can’t believe that…”
    “Look,” his voice dropped to an intimate tone. “I can’t talk about a lot of things over the phone, but I’m making things happen. I’m making sure you’re safe and someday you might not need all those guys around you. I’m trying, Emma. I’m doing my damnedest right now to fix it so you’re going to be okay.”
    “But my roommate,” I whispered back.
    He sighed into the phone. “I can’t make any promises about her. I’m trying, but you’re my first priority, Emma. I promise you, this will all be over soon.”
    I clenched the phone tighter. “You promise?”
    “I do. I can promise that.”
    I nodded and felt a tear fall onto the pillow. “Okay.”
    “Are you okay?” Concern filtered into his voice now. “Are you eating?”
    “I got scared.” The admission slipped me before I knew what I was going to say.
    “I’m sorry, Emma. I should’ve been there.”
    “No, you said that you have things to do. You have to work. You—” are doing something to make sure that I’m safe. Even as I thought that, shame tore through me. He was right. I was angry that he left and that he stayed away for so long. I was angry that he